Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,864 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,705,466,000 after purchasing an additional 36,531 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $939,898,000 after buying an additional 191,043 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $808,005,000 after acquiring an additional 148,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $474,370,000 after acquiring an additional 916,743 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $477.92 on Monday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $448.50 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $507.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $538.78. The company has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MLM. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.64.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.